White Sox 7, Royals 2: Robert Jr. makes a splash in his return

Kyle Teel went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks in his MLB debut

The White Sox (21-43) took down the Royals (33-31) in the opener of this three-game series. The South Siders scored five in the bottom of the eighth to pull away.

Davis Martin, 28, got the start for the South Siders, and he pitched out of trouble in the first. Martin allowed a one-out single to Bobby Witt Jr., and he hit Vinnie Pasquantino with two outs. However, Martin recovered to get Salvador Pérez to chase a fastball up and away. Martin needed 23 pitches to get through the first frame, but he escaped it without allowing any runs.

Starter Seth Lugo, 35, pitched for the Royals, and he ran into trouble in the second. After a scoreless first, Lugo allowed a one-out single to Joshua Palacios to bring up catcher Kyle Teel. Teel, the No. 26 prospect in all of baseball, drew a walk in his first MLB plate appearance. Well done to Teel, who saw seven pitches. Teel wisely took a cutter that missed inside on a 3-2 count. Luis Robert Jr. lined a single to center field to put the White Sox in front, 1-0.

The White Sox had an opportunity to pad their lead in the second, but they were unable to do so. Josh Rojas grounded into a force out that allowed Teel to advance to third. With runners on the corners and two outs, Rojas got caught in a rundown between first and second. At that point, Teel wisely attempted to advance home while the Royals chased Rojas, but Kansas City was not overly distracted. Teel was tagged out easily at home to end the inning.

In the third, the White Sox still had a 1-0 lead, and Martin struck out India and Witt Jr. to open the frame. At that point, the vibes were good, but Maikel García and Pasquantino decided to change things up. García launched a 408-footer on a 1-1 changeup that caught too much of the plate.

The next hitter was Pasquantino, who untied the game by putting a fantastic swing on a decent cutter, launching it out to right. Martin’s cutter was located well, mighty close to the high-inside corner, but Pasquantino was not fooled, and he made the score 2-1.

Martin recovered from the back-to-back homers to finish strong, and he retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced. Martin got through six innings, only allowing those two runs. Overall, Martin struck out seven, which is his highest total for a game this season. Also, Martin’s long first inning was not a sign of things to come in terms of his pitch count. After Martin’s 23 pitches in the first, he only needed 69 pitches to get through the next five, finishing with a pretty efficient total of 92 pitches in six frames.

With the score still 2-1 in the fourth, the White Sox had a great opportunity to score. Andrew Benintendi doubled to lead off the inning, and Miguel Vargas walked. Palacios struck out, but Teel picked up his first MLB hit with a line drive to left for a single. Teel’s hit left the bat at 95.6 mph, and its xBA was .900.

With the bases loaded and one out, Robert looked to add an RBI, but he struck out looking at a sinker that had plenty of the plate. That brought up Rojas, who chased a curveball down low to end the inning.

In the fifth, Fremd Viking Mike Tauchman put one on the board by crushing a 1-0 changeup to right for his third homer of the year.

The Palatine Pounder’s OPS is still in quadruple digit territory (1.015), and he is surely making many Fremd alumni happy.

I might not have a better chance to say this, so I will take a moment to note that Fremd has generated two MLB players (Tauchman and Todd Hundley), while Palatine High School is still looking for its first.

With the game tied at two, Brandon Eisert delivered a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Martin. Jordan Leasure took over to begin the eighth, and that inning got off to a rough start. Leasure walked Jonathan India to open the frame, and Witt Jr. crushed a 108.9 mph exit velocity single to center. With two on with no outs, García stepped up to the plate. Many White Sox fans braced for impact, especially because García launched a homer earlier. Leasure fell behind in the count (2-0), but García laid down a bunt. It was not a great bunt, as Leasure got to it and threw to third for the force out. The sacrifice bunt did not work, and even if it had been “successful,” one would have to wonder why the Royals opted to settle for that.

The Royals still had a mild scoring threat, with runners on first and second and one out. From there, Leasure took care of business. A harmless grounder into a force out by Pasquantino and a pop out by Pérez ended the inning.

The Royals squandered their scoring opportunity in the eighth, but the White Sox made sure to cash in. For the second time, Benintendi led off an inning with a double. Michael A. Taylor entered the game as a pinch-runner, and he advanced to third on a ground out by Vargas. Austin Slater and Teel drew back-to-back walks, and suddenly, the bases were loaded.

That set the stage for Robert, who lined a single into right to drive in a pair. Robert’s single only left the bat at 71.0 mph, but it had the perfect launch angle to fall between the second baseman (India) and right fielder (Mark Canha).

That made the score 4-2, and the White Sox were not done.

Rojas grounded into a force out for out No. 2, but Tim Elko walked to extend the inning and load the bases again. That brought Tauchman to the plate, and a wild pitch by reliever Taylor Clarke allowed the third run of the inning to score. Tauchman proceeded to hit a grounder that should have ended the inning, but García made an error that allowed another run to score. It is possible that García was still thinking about the bunt from the top half of the inning.

Finally, for good measure, Clarke’s error on a pickoff attempt allowed Elko to race home. Just like that, the White Sox had scored five runs in the eighth, and it was 7-2.

Bryse Wilson had no trouble closing it down in the ninth, retiring all three batters he faced.

The White Sox are set to face the Royals again on Saturday at 3:10 pm Central. The probable starting pitchers are Michael Wacha (2.88 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 1.6 fWAR in 68 ²⁄₃ innings) and Adrian Houser (1.47 ERA, 2.37 FIP, 0.7 fWAR in 18 ¹⁄₃ innings). We hope to see you then.

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